Exhibitions On View

Calendar of Events — August 2018

All programs are free for JANM members and included with admission for non-members, unless otherwise noted. Events are subject to change.

Reservations are recommended for most programs; you may use the links below. You may also RSVP by emailing rsvp@janm.org or calling 213.625.0414 at least 48 hours in advance. Please indicate the name, date, and time of the program, as well as your name and the number of people in your party. (RSVPs are not accepted for Family Festivals).

For all ticketed events (classes, workshops, food tours, etc.), pre-payment is required to hold your space. Cancellations must be made 48 hours in advance or no refund will be issued.

Upper Level Members and VIP Reception: Civil Liberties Act of 1988

Members at the Director’s Circle level and above are invited to preview the newly-reinstalled final gallery of the museum’s Common Ground exhibition with a new emphasis on the redress movement and its achievements. Pages from the original Civil Liberties Act of 1988 document will be displayed, temporarily on loan from the National Archives.

Program with light reception to follow. Invitations will be mailed in June.

Memorial for Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombings

Saturday–Thursday, August 4–9

Admission on Saturday, August 4: Pay What You Wish

In commemoration of the World War II atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which occurred on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, we will feature Yoko Ono’s Imagine Peace Wish Tree. Participants can write down their personal wishes for peace on a piece of paper that they tie to the tree.

At the end of the commemoration, the wishes will be collected and mailed to the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland, Ono’s on-going art project, where wishes from around the world are collected and stored.

Sadako’s Crane will also be on display near the Wish Tree during this period.

In this two-day workshop, participants will continue working with indigo and shibori dyeing using a broad selection of beautiful vintage and one-of-a-kind fabrics. Shibori techniques of itajime, arashi, nui, and more will be practiced with both new and continuing students. Bring scissors and a seam ripper.

Common Ground Exhibition Tour

PAY WHAT YOU WISH

Tour the ongoing exhibition Common Ground: The Heart of Community with JANM’s knowledgeable docents.

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, the landmark legislation that brought incarceration camp survivors an apology from the US government and monetary reparations, the last section of Common Ground is being reimagined to further emphasize the historic achievements of the redress movement. Artifacts from the JANM Collection will be added and for a limited time, pages of the original Civil Liberties Act document, including the page bearing President Ronald Reagan’s signature, will be displayed. These pages are on loan from the National Archives in Washington DC. The revised gallery will go on view August 4, with the original pages from the Act on display through September 23, 2018.

Admission to this tour and the museum are both pay-what-you-wish on this day.

Reaffirmed Commitment: A Conversation with Norman Y. Mineta

If you missed the program, you can watch it online on JANM’s YouTube channel.

PAY WHAT YOU WISH

On August 10, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, landmark legislation through which the US government issued an apology and provided monetary compensation to Japanese Americans who had survived America’s concentration camps during World War II.

Celebrating Japanese American Redress: A Promise for the Future

If you missed the program, you can watch it online on JANM’s YouTube channel.

PAY WHAT YOU WISH

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, join us for an afternoon of reunion, reconnection, and reaffirmation of our commitment to democracy and justice.

JANM President and CEO Ann Burroughs, GFBNEC President and CEO Dr. Mitchell T. Maki, and Karin Wang, Executive Director of the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law, will remind us that the fight for civil rights is most successful when done in solidarity across generations and regardless of race, class, gender, or any other single factor of identity.

On this afternoon, the museum will be taking group photos of all those involved in the redress movement of the 1980s as well as those who would like to reaffirm their commitment to democracy today. Following the photos, light refreshments will be served and guests will be invited to pledge their personal commitment to civil liberties by signing our Commitment Banner.

Admission to JANM is Pay What You Wish on this day. RSVPs are strongly recommended using the link below.

Please note that priority seating will be assigned to those who have made reservations in advance. RSVPs will be released 15 minutes before opening, seating thereafter will be first come first served.

Members Only Meet-and-Greet with Art Hansen

All members are invited to this exclusive reception with Art Hansen, professor emeritus of History and Asian American Studies at California State University, Fullerton, and editor of Nisei Naysayer: The Memoir of Militant Japanese American Journalist Jimmie Omura, prior to his author discussion at 2 p.m.

Space is limited. RSVP by August 21 using the link below. You can also contact memberevents@janm.org or 213.830.5646.

Author Discussion—Nisei Naysayer: The Memoir of Militant Japanese American Journalist Jimmie Omura by James Matsumoto Omura; edited by Arthur A. Hansen

If you missed the program, you can watch it online on JANM’s YouTube channel.

The late journalist James “Jimmie” Omura was among the fiercest opponents of the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. In his sharply written columns, Omura called out leaders in the Nikkei community for what he saw as their complicity with the US government’s unjust and unconstitutional policies. Among the first Nikkei to seek governmental redress and reparations for wartime violations of civil liberties and human rights, Omura paid dearly for his bravery; he was shunned by the Nikkei community and excluded from the standard narrative of Japanese American wartime incarceration until later in life.

In this vividly written memoir, scheduled for release on August 28, Omura provides an account of his early years and attempts to correct the “cockeyed history to which Japanese America has been exposed.” The book is edited and includes an introduction by historian Arthur A. Hansen, who will discuss the book and his friendship with Omura, and features contributions from activists and writers Frank Chin, Yosh Kuromiya, and Frank Abe.